On the Federal left flank at Kennesaw


The story of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain usually focuses on the Federal attacks staged at Cheatham’s Hill and Pigeon Hill and their repulse, but on the extreme left of the Federal line, three brigades under General Mortimer Leggett staged a late day push against the Confederate lines held by two brigades of General Winfield Featherston’s division that rivalled combat in the other areas in intensity if not in a lengthy casualty list.
Kurz & Allison print of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, June 27, 1864

Captain John W.A. Gillespie (1834-1913) was in command of Co. G of the 78th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during this Federal assault on Featherston’s Division and recorded his experiences of the desperate and confused fighting that took place. As part of Colonel Robert K. Scott’s all-Ohio brigade (20th, 32nd, 68th, and 78th Ohio regiments), Gillespie and his men marched through the night of June 26-27th to arrive on the Federal far left in an attempt to draw the Confederates away from the primary point of attack, but that afternoon found themselves pushing in against the Confederate line. Captain Gillespie had command of the two companies of skirmishers from the 78th Ohio, and confused by the heavy underbrush, pushed too close to the Confederate lines and became pinned down by intense Rebel musket fire. 

 During the war, Gillespie kept up a regular correspondence with the Zanesville Daily Courier (those letters can be accessed here), but the following letter didn't appear in the newspapers. This account saw publication in the December 24, 1887 issue of the Ohio Soldier, a fantastic source akin to the National Tribune.



In the field near Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia
Tuesday morning, June 28, 1864

          I am indebted to a kind Providence for the privilege of writing to you today for certainly no earthly power could have taken me safely through the dangers of the past 48 hours. Yet why I should have been spared when so many noble boys in blue were sent to their long homes is not for me to know. God knows, and that is enough for me to know.

Colonel Robert K. Scott, 68th OVI
Led the brigade at Kennesaw

          I am, however, very thankful for this opportunity of communicating with you once more and hope my letter will soon reach you as I am sure you will all be anxious to hear from the great battle fought yesterday in which so many lost their lives, or were sent to hospitals to suffer from terrible wounds received while trying to drive the Rebels from their strong line of works on Kennesaw Mountain. Night before last, just after coming in off picket, the regiment with the balance of the brigade was ordered to make a night march for the extreme left of our lines which it did. This was done for the purpose of attracting the attention of as large a force of the Rebels as possible from the extreme left of their lines on which General Joe Hooker was to make a strong and determined effort to get possession of the railroad in the rear of Marietta. We marched and halted and marched all night long and when day began to break in the east, we found ourselves directly in front of the Rebel works and as soon as it was light enough to see how to work the guns, two of our batteries opened their mouths and began talking tin thunder tones to the Johnnies in their works.


          Our regiment supported the battery that opened the ball as I can assure you we hugged mother earth very closely when the Rebel guns began to reply, which they did not do until our gunners had fired 25 or 30 shots. The Rebels opened fire on us with six guns and from that time until 3 o’clock in the afternoon, their shot and shell came shrieking and bursting over our heads and sometimes a dozen pieces of shell would full right among us. One shells struck in front of Co. G and bounced three times through the company without hurting a man in it, and surprising as it may seem, each time it struck the earth it passed over three or four of my men. During all the shelling we received, we had but two men slightly wounded in the entire regiment.

Regimental colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry


          At 3:30 in the afternoon, the batteries ceased firing and having accomplished all that had been expected of us on that portion of the field, we were ordered back to the old position in front of our camp where we remained but a few minutes being ordered into line again. The fighting on our right at this time was simply terrific, the roar of artillery and musketry being almost deafening while clouds of smoke kept us from seeing any part of the terrible battle and havoc in that portion of the field, yet we had enough to look after, however, in our own immediate front as we soon found out.


          The brigade formed in line of battle, two regiments deep, and moved forward a quarter of a mile and prepared to receive the Rebels should they charge from their rifle pits as we reported that they were going to do. I was put in command of Companies A and G of our regiment and ordered forward as skirmishers and ordered to go as far as possible without being too much exposed. The woods we had to go through was so thick with a small growth of red brush that we could scarcely work our way through it and could not see ten steps ahead of us part of the time during our advance. We soon met the Rebel skirmishers, however, and received their first fire when our boys let loose their dogs of war and drove them from the woods into their works in an open field.
Brigadier General Mortimer Leggett
Division commander at Kennesaw


On the left of our line, the Rebel rifle pits ran down into the woods and being thickly covered with red brush, the left of my company got within five steps of the pits before they were aware of it. The Rebs immediately opened on us from front and flanks and protected by their works, had a big advantage and we enabled to pour a raking fire on my men without us being able to return it with much advantage except to make the Johnnies keep their heads behind the works. My company had advanced further than the balance of the line of skirmishers, but owing to the dense undergrowth, I did not become aware of it until the affair was over. The Rebels had an enfilading fire on my boys for an hour and a half and during that time they tore the earth up all around us and cut the limbs and leaves from the bushes so that they looked as naked as though a furious hailstorm had passed over them. I never heard balls come thicker or faster and I hope I shall never get into such a place again without some chance to return the compliment in full.


Finding we could not advance or retreat, I passed the word along the line for the men to seek the best cover they could and then shoot every Rebel that showed his head above the works, an order which was obeyed to the letters as prisoners afterwards stated that our boys killed and wounded several of their men in the works. One big Confederate jumped on top of the works and yelled out, “Surrender you damned Yanks!” and raised his gun to fire, but before he could pull the trigger, John W. Robinson who was lying on the ground close to me and who had just loaded his Enfield rifle, raised up and fired, killing the fellow instantly. His gun went off in the air and I am sure I don’t exaggerate when I say he jumped full three feet up from the top of the works and fell on the brush outside stone dead.


Colonel [Greenbury F.] Wiles, finding that we had gone further than was intended we should go, ordered us to fall back to the balance of the line, Captain [Gilbert D.] Munson calling in a loud voice for us to do so. Knowing it would be impossible to move as a body in any kind of safety, I had the order to fall back one at a time passed along the line, telling the men next to me that when they all got back to call me and then I would try it. The order was obeyed but in every single instance my boys had a volley fired after them as they ran and dodged among the bushes, but they all got back and when I heard the signal, I jumped to my feet and I am certain I never ran so fast in my life before as I did through the woods yesterday and when I got back, the boys all seemed as pleased to see me as though I had been away from them for a month General [Mortimer] Leggett and Colonel Wiles both said they never expected to see me alive again after finding that we had gone so much farther than was expected of us.
 
First Lieutenant Cyrus M. Roberts was serving in Co. E of the 78th Ohio but on detached service with the Signal Corps. (Ohio History Connection)


How so many of us escaped wounds or death God only knows. Robert Peacock of my company was mortally wounded, a Minie ball passing through his bowels. He died last night after suffering intense agony. Private Joseph Dixon was shot through the left thigh, the ball cutting the femoral artery. His leg will have to be amputated and I fear he cannot live. Both were splendid soldiers and fine-looking men and fell nobly doing their duty to their country in its hour of peril. I wrote to the poor old mother or Corporal Peacock in Maryland this morning, and my heart aches to think of how she will receive the news of the death of her darling boy. Yet hundreds of mothers will weep tears of sorrow when the details of yesterday’s great battle reach them. I wrote to Private Dixon’s people today also but could give them no consolation beyond the fact that he fell at his post. Company A had four men wounded, one of whom will die. In all, we had one killed and 15 wounded, four or five of whom were only slightly wounded and will soon recover.


The Rebel position in our front is strongly fortified and will be hard to take by direct assault, and if the Rebs are to be gotten out soon, I am of the opinion that it will be done by a flank movement, a trick that Uncle Billy is good at playing. The wound in my shoulder is far from being well yet, and while running through the bushes yesterday I struck against a large limb which opened it up afresh and caused it to bleed copiously. I still had my arm in a sling yesterday morning, but in the excitement of the day I threw the sling away, and now am out of a big new silk handkerchief. Better that, however, than an arm, a leg, or a piece of my scalp.

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of how Confederate jacke
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
Read more

The Cannons are Now Silent: The Field of Death of Tupelo

Image
       The smoke of battle had drifted away from the battlefield at Tupelo, Mississippi on the hot afternoon of July 14, 1864, but the carnage of war lay spread across the open fields. “Scattered at intervals over the field of a few yards are dull gray blotches half shaded by grass,” an officer from the 7 th Minnesota Infantry recorded. “These are the Rebel dead. They have fought their last battle and lie generally in attitudes of rest; some of them look as if they had welcomed death. On the faces of two is imprinted a smile. One is a boy of 16 with delicate features, almost girlish in their beauty. His last gaze seems to have been directed toward his hand on the forefinger of which was a ring. A circle of purer white indicates its place; the ring was carried off as a trophy of the field.” The following account of the Battles of Tupelo and Old Town Creek was written by an unknown officer of the 7 th Minnesota Infantry, his account appearing in the August 5 th 1864 edition of the
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on securing all the Enfi
Read more

Straw Already Threshed: Sherman on Shiloh

Image
  W illiam Tecumseh Sherman was enjoying retired life in New York City when just before Christmas in 1889 he was presented with an article written by John Cockerill, a former drummer boy in the 24 th Ohio who was visiting his father Colonel Joseph Cockerill of the 70 th Ohio of Sherman’s division when the Battle of Shiloh began. Cockerill’s article, originally published in the New York Journalist and later featured in the January 1893 issue of Blue & Gray Magazine, Sherman later pronounced as “the best war story ever written” and the truest account of Shiloh.           On New Year’s Day 1890, General Sherman composed the following letter to his friend Marshall P. Wilder thanking him for sending along Cockerill’s article and giving his own explanation of Shiloh. “This to me is straw already threshed for we have fought this battle on paper several times, a much more agreeable task than to fight with bullets,” he concluded. “When in England some years ago I was gratified to liste
Read more

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
Read more

Escape of Captain Henry H. Alban of the 21st Ohio Infantry

Image
Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and
Read more

Knapsack Compression: Wilbur Hinman recalls the first step of becoming a veteran

Image
L ooking back on his experiences during the war, Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65 th Ohio (perhaps best known as the author of Si Klegg and His Pard ) recalled that the first road along which his regiment marched was strewn “with debris. A pair of six-mule wagonloads might have been gathered of notions that had been flung aside by a thousand suffering “tenderfeet.” “The average young patriot started for the war with a wheelbarrow load of clothing, a bed quilt or two, books, photograph albums, toilet articles, and gimcracks of every sort,” he wrote. “Neither he nor the good homefolks had the slightest conception of the capacity of a knapsack, nor did they for a moment imagine that before the close of his first day upon the road every pound he carried would seem a hundred.” To the true mark of a veteran soldier was one who “learned to dispense with every unnecessary ounce of weight, and just in the ratio that he did this he increased his efficiency as a soldier. It was of the highest
Read more

Federal Arms in the Chickamauga Campaign

Image
T he ordnance returns of the Army of the Cumberland at the end of September 1863 show the results of a transformational year in weaponry. Since taking command of the army at the end of October 1862, General William S. Rosecrans had repeatedly pestered the War Department to supply his regiments with better firearms both to improve the command’s efficiency as well as expand its striking power. The results speak for themselves: for the infantrymen at the end of September 1863, 90% of them now carried Class I long arms (36,058 out of 39,959), 8.3% carried Class II arms, and a mere 1.5% carried Class III weapons. Most of the foreign-made weapons (except Enfields) were gone, and by and large the army had settled on a single common .58 caliber ammunition, although a few .54 caliber and .69 caliber weapons remained within the ranks. The English-made Enfield rifle musket was by far the most common arm, carried by 56% of the men while the second-most common arm was the .58 caliber M1861 Spring
Read more